Development of video services at Kingston University

“Doing it on the cheap, and finding a direction”

ARLIS VRC 9th September 2008

Matthew GroveAndy BelshamInformation ServicesContent Management Team

• Background• Challenges• Solutions• Future plans

What I will cover this afternoon.

Introduction

20,000 students about 3,000 of which are overseas

Two major Faculty interests Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences

Faculty of Art, Design & Architecture

CoursesFilm studies Web TV modules

Television studies Animation

Demand at Kingston University

Introduction

Aspirations• Blending learning model• Courses need resources off and on

site 24 X 7• All Kingston students receive the

same quality service

Meeting that demand

Actualities• Physical collections • Variable demand

Back in the day…

• Paper based • Technician dependant• Under managed• Labour intensive

Off-Air Recording Service

VHS: The death of a format

• Student ownership of VHS players and a declining market

• Fragility of the media• Internal strategic drivers

Strategic Discussion

• What could be done? Fact finding tour, having been shown the cheque book

• EvaluationObstacles to investment

Pressure on student PC facilities

Steep learning curve for academics and students

Restricted development prior to ERA+

Drop VHS and develop something “cutting edge”.

Adoption of DVD

• More robust• Students had players• Technology was affordable• Nobody had to make any

difficult strategic decisions

Burning to DVD

DVD : The death of another format?

• Evidence of shift in demand• Growth in student expectation for

electronic resources for all courses.

Strategic Discussion II – The Return

• Unveiling of ERA + • Discussions on future value for money when funding an in-house

solution • Access ‘v’ collections.

Move away from DVD and do something “cutting edge”, you know, like YouTube.

What is the plan

• Use PVR Hard disc recorders• DVD duplicators for multiple copies• Investigate what we already have in place to

work with.

Whist we are waiting for the ultimate solution to arrive.

Helix Universal Streaming Server

• What did we have in place?

A Real Networks, Helix Universal Streaming Video Server – capable of delivering multi-format streaming video to both wired and wireless devices across the Web. Used within Kingston University to deliver high quality video content in support of Teaching, Learning and Marketing purposes.

Then Andy and his streaming server came along

• What do we have now?

CAPTURE PC’sRM Intel P4, CPU 2.40GHz, 1.00GB RAM withHauppauge WinTV-NOVA-T-500 PCI Card and DVB –T Tuner (Freeview)

ENCODING PCRM Intel Core 2 Duo, 2 x CPU 1.86GHz, 1.98 GB RAM withReal Producer Encoding Software and Automated Batch Encoding Script

TV.TV Electronic Programme GuideSubscription to http://www.tvtv.co.uk/

G-TECH G-RAID 2TB Ext HDD

+

• What do we have now?

CAPTURE PC

ENCODING PC

TV.TV EPG

G-TECH G-RAIDExt HDD

AERIAL SOCKET

TV SignalProgramme

Schedule

MPEG2 Video Files

MPEG2 Video Files

Real Media Files

Streaming Video

Streaming Video

DVD BURNER

MPEG2 Video Files

• Who helped us out with setting it up?

Rob Thomas

+44 (0) 1844 337 353enquiries@streaming.co.uk

www.streaming.co.uk

• How much did it cost?

TVTV Subscriptions £ 29.80 (1yr)

Encoding PC £ 376.00

Capture PC’s £ 0.00

Hauppauge PCI Cards £ 130.00

G-Tech G-raid 2TB HDD £ 410.00

Consultancy £ 2,000

GRAND TOTAL £ 2,945.80

29.80

376

410

130

Strategic Discussion III - The Rethink

• Not signed up to ERA+ yet!• Possible to restrict via UK IP on streaming server

• Bite the international bullet by investigating and negotiating alternative delivery managed via VLE CMS.

• E books and Learning objects development• New models of course delivery require new types of content.

Something other than copyright cleared articles.

Current plans

Strategic Discussion III - The Rethink

There is no ultimate solution, no single “killer application”, and one size does not fit all.

Develop a framework that supports a variety of solutions for presenting video content.

Support a variety of “channels” for content

Channel 1

• Content we hold within the University and we have rights to show

• With ERA+ and secure access via the portal

Hosted on our streaming server

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MENU

Channel 2

• Quick and dirty approach to just get it up there

• Suitable for some project work• Easy to access• Provided it is rights free

YouTube for low-fi

Channel 3

• Great presence for marketing• Agree a public showcase with Apple• Create an iTunes library for your

students • Easy downloads

iTunesU for iTunes users

Channel 4

• For sensitive or exclusive content• We have easy access management

by particular course or cohort.• We can report who used what and

when.• When course completes, so does the

access.

“Locked down” in VLE

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Channel 5

• This is science fiction at present but we have some services like Screenonline, Naxos Music Library etc.

• The required infrastructure managing this access is already in place . EZproxy, Shibboleth etc.

• Services exist for private individuals, are we near negotiating institutional access for HD movie downloads?

Authentication solutions provided for subscriptions

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Channel 6

• Physical media is still the most accessible approach for many

• They are reassuringly reliable• They come with booklets and shelve

notes!

DVDs maintained as backup

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Menu

• Management should be supported by licensing information, like ERM

• All this content should be made easy to find

• Both in context (on the VLE) or by searching in the portal

Provide metadata for a range of discovery tools

Thank you

Comments, suggestions, prosecutions…

Matthew GroveE Services Managerm.grove@kingston.ac.uk

Andy BelshamTeam Leader Web & Multimediaa.belsham@kingston.ac.uk